While many industrialized countries have come to regard infection by intestinal helminths as a problem of impoverished developing countries, this is far from true. The incidence of gastrointestinal infection by parasitic intestinal helminths continues to present a serious health concern. The World Health Organization and other authorities estimate that well over two billion of the population are infected annually with intestinal helminths. Manual Of Clinical Microbiology, Sixth Edition, 1141-1142. Worldwide, five hundred to eight hundred million are estimated to be infected with Trichuris trichiura, and nine hundred million with hookworm. Id. Treatment of helminth infections has had modest success due to the complexity of the parasitic life cycles of the organisms i.e., egg, first-stage larva, second-stage larva, third-stage larva, free-form, etc. In addition, an increasing display of resistance to commonly used antihelminthic agents further hinders the likelihood of successful treatment of helminth infections. Therefore, the need for effective antihelminthic therapies continues to grow.
It has been discovered by the present invention that the administration of bismuth salts may be effective for the prevention and/or treatment of gastrointestinal disorders caused or mediated by one or more intestinal helminths. Thus, an object of the present invention is to provide a safe and effective method of preventing and/or treating gastrointestinal disorders caused or mediated by intestinal helminths. A further object of the invention is to provide such a method comprising the administration of bismuth.
These and other objects of the present invention will become readily apparent from the detailed description which follows.